Chapter Five

Roy had waited all day for a wire that never came from the sheriff of Silver Falls. He knew that other more urgent matters could have taken the man out of town or kept him busy, but he still waited and hoped that some more details would come through and confirm that it was actually Joe he was describing.

He’d listened the night before as the young ranch hand had poured out his suspicions and worries over the fate of his friend’s younger brother. In a twisted kind of way, it had made sense when he combined it with Adam’s doubts and Glen had seemed surprised that he was actually being taken seriously. If he hadn’t held a wire in his pocket that told him Joe, or somebody who seemed to fit his description, was currently being cared for by someone in Silver Falls, the sheriff might have acted differently. He had no wish to tell one of his oldest friends that his son’s body was possibly rotting somewhere up in the hills and he would not voice that concern until he’d ruled out the other possibilities. He would not cause his friend any unnecessary grief and he’d sworn the young hand to silence until he’d had time to investigate further. The only way he’d managed to convince the boy to do so was to share the wire he’d received from Silver Falls. The holes in his theory just frustrated him and he had no idea how Joe could have made it to Silver Falls without his horse, but it drove him to push on for the answers. He knew that the youngest Cartwright could be resourceful when he needed to be and if he was injured, that just gave him greater incentive to find help. As Roy waited, he just wished that Adam would respond to one of the numerous wires he’d sent out in the hope he might get one of them somewhere along the trail.

As Glen had slipped out of the sheriff’s office the night before and made his way to where he’d left his horse, he had no idea he was being watched from the shadows. He’d ridden all the way back to the ranch, believing he’d been discrete enough. His heart lurched between fear that Nate wasn’t boasting and the sheriff’s assurances that Joe was actually safe in another town. He had a fair idea how Hoss would react to news of his brother’s death and he kept his mouth shut as he had promised. The day seemed to drag on as he tried to concentrate on ranch chores and keep his mind from wandering off. Every time he looked up, he had the unnerving sense that he was being watched and he could not shake the itch that ran down the back of his neck. He was almost relieved when Nate had not returned after the day’s work was done and someone said he’d gone into town instead.

“I’m not doing anything else for you, so don’t even ask. You owe me! You’re gonna pay or I’m gonna march right over to that sheriff’s office and tell him zactly what you’ve been up to out at that Cartwright ranch.”

Nate gripped his hand onto the railing as he stared at one of the mercenary young drifters he’d invested in. His hand itched to take a swing at him, but he kept his temper in check and considered what he was going to do. Maybe the kid had reached the end of his usefulness, but his friend was nowhere to be seen and Nate didn’t dare act unless he had both of them.

“No need for that. You just need to keep your mouth shut, you hear?”

“Then I reckon you owe me. I’ve done everything you told me to and the money ain’t been enough. You took a coupla shots at me that I wasn’t expecting and you coulda killed me!”

“I told you what the plan was and you agreed. That kid needed to think you were his brother and that he was dead. Kinda hard to make it look like I shot you if I didn’t fire my gun!”

“Well maybe I oughta take a wild shot at you sometime and see how you deal with it.”

Nate’s mouth twitched at the edges as he stared at the face that was only inches from his. He could smell the sour tang of whiskey and he wondered if it was just alcohol fuelled bravado he was dealing with or a kid who had grown too big for his britches. Either way, he was dangerous and needed to shut up before anybody overheard him.

“So how much do ya reckon you’ve got coming to you?”

“Well, I reckon you’ve only paid me half my wages so far. My price just doubled.”

Nate stared at the young fool who thought he could outwit him, but he kept his thoughts to himself. “Meet me back here in an hour.”

As he turned to walk out of the alleyway, he could hear the sound of laughter at his back. He clenched his fists and forced himself to keep walking. It seemed that too many loose ends needing tying up.

It was well past dark when Roy heard shouting outside and he hurried to the door to see what was going on.

“Sheriff! You gotta come quick!”

It was Mal Peters who had come running from the street and he was almost breathless as he pulled up in front of the lawman.

“Pa said to get ya, right quick. There’s two bodies out the back of the Bucket of Blood.”

As Roy hurried along with the young lad, he fully expected to find bodies with bullet holes in them. What he came upon instead was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. He’d heard tell of killers who mutilated bodies, but he’d never seen it for himself. There were knife wounds in both bodies, but it was the fact their tongues had been cut out that knocked the breath out of him. Men milled around at the end of the alleyway and someone at least had the sense to keep the womenfolk out of sight, but Roy knew that the rumour mill would have already been running at full steam. He could hear the speculation going on behind him and the rising voices and he stood up to address the small crowd that was growing by the minute.

“Now just simmer down. Alla ya! We don’t know what happened here yet, but if anybody has anything more useful than guesses, I need to know.”

“Those two fellas was out drinking with one of the Ponderosa hands last night. I saw them at the Silver Dollar.”

Roy looked over to see who was talking and he nodded at the man. “Any idea which one? Ben’s got a lot of ’em out there at the moment.”

“Don’t know a name, but I seen him around here for a while now.”

Once Roy had the bodies carted off to the undertaker’s office for further examination and the back end of the alley roped off with thick rope, he left a deputy behind and made his way over to the Silver Dollar. Sam seemed to have been alerted to the rumours already and was waiting for him to show up.

“Those two young fellas have been hanging around for a while. Couple of saddle tramps that didn’t seem to have any kind of fixed work, but always had coin for whiskey.”

“Any idea who the ranch hand is they were seen with last night.” Roy leaned on the bar as Sam nodded his head.

“One of the new ones Ben hired a few months back. His name’s Nate.”

“Thanks, Sam.” Roy tipped his hat as he headed back out of the saloon and made straight for his horse. It wasn’t the kind of call he wanted to be making on his friend, but it was unavoidable.

Glen stood behind several of the others and listened as various comments were tossed around the bunkhouse. Most of the men had been getting ready for bed when a horse had trotted into the yard and somebody had hammered on the door of the main house. It wasn’t like the Cartwrights didn’t sometimes get late callers, but it was unusual enough to have caused a couple of them to head outside and check that nothing was amiss. Hank was protective of his employers, having enjoyed his job as foreman for several years and he frowned as he saw Roy Coffee heading inside. Nothing good could come of such a late visit from the sheriff and he hoped the man wasn’t delivering bad news. He’d known Ben and his sons long enough to know that Joe’s continued absence was eating at all of them and he hoped his boss wasn’t about to be hit with bad news.

It was less than ten minutes later that the door of the bunkhouse pushed open and Ben stepped into the room. The men stopped talking at once and looked to see the sheriff eyeing them all.

“Nate, Sheriff Coffee would like a word with you.”

Glen held his breath as Nate walked past him and moved towards the outer verandah. He could have sworn the man flicked a brief look his way, but it was so fleeting that he could not be sure if he was imagining it. Had he been seen the night before when he went to speak with the sheriff? The man made his blood run cold and he mentally berated himself for letting his imagination run away on him.

It felt like hours before they re-entered the room and Roy called out Mac. Nate shrugged his shoulders at the questions that came his way once the sheriff had headed back outside.

“Seems some fellas I had a beer with yesterday got themselves killed in town tonight and had their tongues cut out!” The mock outrage in his voice carried across the room and drew muttered responses. “Sheriff just wanted to know if I knew of anybody who’d wanta kill them and if they were in any kinda trouble. I couldn’t tell him nothing cos Mac and me weren’t even in town tonight and I’ve got no idea who’d do something so sick.”

Glen felt his stomach lurch as he noted Nate looking his way. As much as he’d tried to tell himself that he wasn’t being watched, he suddenly knew without a doubt that he was. Mac and Nate had arrived back late and almost missed supper, claiming they’d been enjoying the company of a couple of local sisters which drew a round of snickers and admiring comments. The hint of perfume that lingered on Nate’s shirt had drawn another round of lewd comments. While he was mulling that over and wondering how to keep himself from bolting from the room, Sheriff Coffee walked back in through the door, followed by Mac and both Ben and Hoss. As Roy outlined what had happened in town and asked if anybody knew anything further, Glen found himself trying to sink into the shadows. He needed to speak, but this was not the time. He wasn’t really listening any further until he heard Nate’s voice beside him. The man was talking to another hand, but he didn’t miss the implied threat in the seemingly innocent comment.

“Whoever did that, didn’t want them blabbing their mouths, I guess.”

He shivered as he turned towards his bunk and stripped back the blanket. He could not shake the feeling of a mouse being toyed with by a barn cat and it was all he could do to keep a straight face. It would be many hours before he could find any kind of solace in sleep.

Adam turned his horse towards the nearest saloon and pulled up alongside the hitching rail. He slid from the saddle and tipped his hat back further on his head as he walked inside. It looked like every other saloon in every other town and he barely contained a tired sigh as he ordered a beer and leaned on the bar. Nevada territory was dotted with little one-horse towns and he aimed to search every one of them until he found his brother and dragged him back home where he belonged. Joe hadn’t drawn anything from his bank since he’d left and it was clear that he had to be working somewhere to keep himself provisioned. Somebody had to know something and Adam leaned over to strike up a conversation with yet another bartender in the hopes of finding some answers.

The conversation was stilted at first until the saloon doors swung open and the local sheriff wandered in. He eyed up the stranger and propped himself up against the bar. The bartender didn’t need to ask what he wanted and a beer soon appeared in front of him. The sheriff kept a hand near his gun as he watched the stranger drinking his own beer. It was a small enough town that he kept a wary eye on anybody who rode in, knowing that he was the only law for many miles.

“What brings you to Dusty Creek?”

The stranger pushed at his hat and took another sip of his beer. “I’m looking for my brother.”

The sheriff straightened up and eyed the man a little closer. That wire had said the man’d be wearing all black. “Don’t suppose your name is Adam by any chance?”

Adam stared at him as he nodded. “Cartwright. Adam Cartwright. How did you know that?” His heart rate jumped a notch as he wondered if the man somehow knew Joe and had maybe heard a description of his oldest brother.

“Well I guess it’s your lucky day, Mister Adam Cartwright. I got me a wire over there in my office from a sheriff back in Virginia City with your name on it.”

Adam frowned as he considered why Roy would be wiring a town he did not even know Adam would be traveling through.

“It was pretty short, but he said your brother is in Silver Falls. Said to send you to the sheriff there.”

The bartender laughed as he listened in on the conversation. “Your brother one to go getting hisself in trouble with the law?”

Adam barely contained a groan as he considered the answer. Yes, it was entirely possible that Joe was in trouble with the law, especially given the mood he’d been in when he left the Ponderosa. He tipped his hat in acknowledgement of the sheriff’s news and headed towards the door.

“Thanks.”

Joe leaned against the wall of the tiny room he’d been sleeping in and tried to contain the dizziness that still plagued him. His shoulder was healing reasonably well, although it was going to leave an ugly scar. His bruises had mostly faded, but the memory of the beating that caused them would not soon fade. His memory was returning in patchy details and he knew he had another brother and a father waiting somewhere for him, but he couldn’t grasp where that might be. Each time he tried to focus on those memories, his grief would spiral up and choke the thoughts right out his head. It was almost as though his body was trying desperately to protect his mind from whatever it was hiding. The resultant headaches were bearable some days and almost crippling on others. Stacey had almost dragged him to bed the night before as he could not carry his own weight.

As he allowed himself to regain his balance, he heard voices outside. Someone was shouting and his instincts kicked in before his rational mind did.

“Stacey, you in there?”

Harry had learned a long time ago not to approach the house without alerting the single occupant first or he was liable to end up facing a shotgun. Luke’s death had hardened her in a way that nothing would ever soften. He’d tried to get her to move into town, but Stacey had stubbornly refused. They’d argued more than once over how safe she would be in town in comparison to the tiny ranch on her own, but she would not leave. Instead, she managed to make a go of it by share cropping with a neighbour and allowing him to run his stock on her land for a fee. She had better access to water year round and the soil was more fertile. Harry knew it would never make much money, but his stubborn young sister-in-law would not have it any other way. The vegetable garden and her trap lines gave her all that she needed and he had to take his hat off to her persistence.

“Stacey?” He shouted again and was half way through dismounting when she came hurrying up from the woodpile. He took the armful of wood from her grasp and stepped back as she pulled the front door open. She screamed as a hand shot out and hauled her inside. Harry found himself caught with his hands full and no way to pull his gun, but the man behind him had his out and pointed through the doorway before he could speak. The barrel of a shotgun waved back at them as Joe sized up the man in the doorway.

“Joe, put that thing down before you shoot the sheriff!” As Stacey wiggled free of his grasp, she noted the look on his face and could see the effort it was taking to stand up. “It’s alright, this is Harry.”

“Heard shouting. Thought you were in trouble.”

“Well my gallant knight, thank you for rescuing me, but I’m not a damsel in distress.”

As Harry stepped across the threshold and dropped the wood by the stove, another shadow walked through the door behind him. Before Adam could speak, he watched Joe sway on his feet and drop to his knees. He surged forward and grasped at his brother as the shotgun clattered to the floor.

“Joe!” Stacey almost pushed the stranger aside until she realised he wasn’t hurting her patient. “In there, you can lay him down on the bed.”

As Adam half carried his brother across behind the curtain, he wondered why Joe was looking at him as if he’d seen a ghost. Before he could ask anything, he was nudged aside as Stacey dropped onto the bed and began wiping at Joe’s face with a damp rag.

“Just breathe. This will pass. Just breathe now.”

Joe tried to push up from the bed, but he groaned as his head lifted from the pillow and he closed his eyes.

“Harry, get me that bowl! He’s likely to be sick when he gets like this.”

“What’s wrong with my brother?” Adam leaned over her shoulder as Stacey continued her ministrations.

“Your brother?” She twisted back to look at the man behind her. “You’re Hoss?”

Adam couldn’t help a small smile as he thought nobody had ever confused him with Hoss before. “No, I’m Adam.”

“Adam? But Joe said … I’m sorry … but Joe thinks you are dead!”